


Worth It

by EzzyDean



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-07
Updated: 2014-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-07 20:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1124002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matchmaker Gou & dense Rin (with a dose of meddling Iwatobi boys on the side)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth It

You wouldn’t think that a pair of eyes so similar to his own could waver his decisions easily - he saw his own eyes staring back at him every morning in the mirror after all - but you’d be wrong.  Looking down into his little sister’s eyes was basically like agreeing to do whatever she wanted.  He would forever be wrapped around his baby sister’s delicate finger.  Briefly he wondered if all older brothers felt this way about their little sisters and maybe he should ask Makoto about that but then Gou’s eyes practically sparkled at him and he focused back in on what she was saying.

“He’s my friend so you have to be nice to him.  Okay?”  Gou poked his arm with a frown.  “Are you hearing me?”

“Yeah yeah.  He’s your friend.  Just your friend.  You don’t like him that way.  I got it.”  Rin rolled his eyes and got up to answer the door.  He had known the day his sister step foot into the world of higher education he would be in trouble.  He just never imagined it would be in the form of the two guys standing at his apartment door.  “I thought you said your friend was coming over.  As in one friend.”  Rin tossed the statement over his shoulder as he eyed the two guys in front of him.  The one nearest the door was a few inches shorter than him and had taken half a step back into the chest of the other guy, who was a few inches taller than Rin.  Gou slipped in front of him and let out a surprised gasp.

“Ai.  Is this?” She let her voice trail off questioningly and Rin glanced down at her before looking up at the two guys suspiciously.  His arm slipped over his little sister’s shoulder and he locked eyes with the taller guy.  Rin caught the flush on the shorter guy’s cheeks when Gou reached out and tugged him into the apartment, clearly ignoring her brother’s possessive arm on her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah.”  The grey haired guy muttered shyly as Gou pulled him into the living room.  The redhead gave Rin a smile and waited patiently as he debated whether to stare him down or follow Gou back into the apartment.  With a sigh he went for the latter decision and gestured the taller man inside to where the other two were waiting.  “That’s Seijuro.  Sei this is Kou.”

“Nice to meet you.”  Gou flashed her smile and Rin could practically feel the defenses of all three males crumbling before her.  “I’m Kou and this is my big brother Rin.”

 

The kitchen wasn’t a sanctuary but at least he couldn’t see the others from there.  He could just focus on cooking food and then cleaning up afterwards.  He didn’t even know why they were here; the project that Ai had originally come over to work with Gou on had been completed weeks ago and yet Ai and Sei and Gou were happily laughing away while he was in here.  Why was he even bothering to make them food anyway?  Looking down at his hands covered in soap bubbles as he washed the dishes he used to prepare the food he stilled.  

“Did you, um, maybe need any help?”  Ai asked softly from where he was watching him from the doorway with a cautious expression spread on his face.  Like he was worried Rin was going to snap at him or run away.  Rin brushed some loose bangs from his face with the back of his hand and shook his head.  Then rethought his action.

“Actually if you want to grab a towel and dry this stuff that would be okay.”  Ai’s face lit up as though his birthday had come early and he eagerly grabbed the towel crumpled on the counter.

“So.”  The redhead shook his head at Gou’s eagerly probing look and flopped onto his back.  It had been nearly three months since he had been introduced to the siblings and for all the progress he had made it might as well have been day one still.  “Really?  I knew he was kind of thick sometimes but…” she paused and considered Sei’s muscled arms crossed behind his head before continuing, “I mean really?”

“I really don’t know what to do.  Every time I try to ask him out or suggest we do something so we could be closer he just turns it around to being about you.”  He glanced toward the kitchen where Ai had been lingering in the now empty doorway for the past five minutes.  Maybe he could succeed where Seijuro had failed.

“What do you mean?”

“I tried to ask him to a movie, right?”  She nodded and stretched onto her side beside him.  “He told me that I obviously sent it to the wrong Matsuoka and that you were busy that weekend anyway so I shouldn’t bother asking you.”  Her giggle made him crack a smile and he continued.  “I invited him swimming, cause you said he enjoys it.”

“He does.”

“He told me that I, and I quote, ‘won’t get permission to date Gou by sucking up to her big brother.’  Seriously.  Do I have to tie him up and drag him home with me or something to get through to him?”  The image of Rin being tied up and drug behind a frustrated Sei while Ai worriedly rushed after them played out in her head and Gou let out a loud laugh.  “You have him wrapped around your finger so tightly I don’t even know what to do.”  Sei reached out and hooked her pinky with his pointer finger and shook his head at her.  “And I thought I was bad with my little sister.”

“Are we, uh, interrupting something?”  Rin glared from the kitchen doorway to where Sei and Gou were sprawled on the floor.  “Food’s ready if you’re hungry.”

“Sorry.”  Gou whispered Sei as they headed into the kitchen.

 

When he cornered Rin at the pool he thought maybe, just maybe, this would be his chance.  Ai had suggested just grabbing Rin and tying him down to their bed so they could get it through the other man’s head that they were interested in him but Sei figured that would be a bit drastic.  More of a final option than anything else.  But this.  This was an opportunity.  They were the last ones out of the pool - being on good terms with the university’s swim captain was a blessing sometimes - and he had backed Rin against the wall next to the doors.

“You and I,” he planted one hand beside Rin’s head and the other next to his shoulder, “should really take some time to get to know each other.”  He leaned in close enough to feel Rin’s breath against his neck; the other man refused to lift his head up and chose to watch Sei carefully through his lashes.  After spending so much time with Rin he knew the seductive look was purely unintentional but it still sent a wave of awareness through him.  

Awareness of how toned Rin was.  

Awareness of how he was just the perfect height to fit comfortably in between Ai and himself.  

Awareness of just how close they were right now.  He smirked as Rin shifted slightly and continued his train of thought.  “We really really should get to know each other.”  He was so focused on watching Rin’s mouth start moving that he almost missed hearing what he said.

“What are you doing?”  His eyes shot from Rin’s lips to his eyes.  His very intriguing and irritated looking eyes.  “Just saying.  But if Gou sees you this close she won’t be happy.”  The door beside them slammed open and Sei stepped back with a deep breath.  Nagisa popped out with one arm slung around Nitori’s waist and a grin plastered to his face.  Both sights sent a shock of annoyance down his spine and he straightened to his full height before addressing them.

“Need something?”  A knowing looked crossed Nagisa’s face and Sei narrowed his eyes.  It couldn’t be, could it?  Would Rin’s childhood friends really be stooping this low?

“Gou was looking for you and I wanted to be the one to find Rirnin!”  Nagisa latched onto a barely willing Rin and tugged him towards the door, not even looking back at the other two.  Ai stared after Nagisa for a moment before turning to Sei and leaning against him.

“But Kou was looking for both of you.  Why would Nagisa phrase it that way?”

 

“You guys have been what?”  Gou glared at her so called friends from the doorway of Haru’s apartment.  Apparently they had forgotten that she still had the key from when she fed their fish when they were on vacation last month and had been discussing their recent adventures.  “Did I hear that right?”  Makoto had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed.  Haru and Nagisa fixed her with matching blank expressions.  Rei made a move to calm her that she stopped with a single look.  Haru’s blank looked turned slightly sour as Gou slammed the door shut and stalked into the living room.

“It’s not what you think.”  Makoto was normally the go to person when it came to settling down upset people but Gou was not having any of his placating tones today.  He gulped as she turned her glare onto him head on and ducked slightly behind Nagisa and Haru.

“Really?  Because I think it sounds like you’ve been sabotaging Ai and Sei’s attempts to get close to Rin.”  Gou’s arms crossed across her chest and she continued to glare down at the four boys in front of her.  She couldn’t even bring herself to refer to them as men right now.

“He’s our innocent Rinrin.  We have to protect him.”  Nagisa pouted and scooted towards her on his knees.  “You know that he’s just innocent romantic Rinrin, right Kou?”  Her eyes narrowed and now it was Nagisa’s turn to hide behind Makoto.  He only called her Kou when he was either in really deep shit or when he really wanted something from her.

“What did you guys do?”  She made sure to emphasize each word by shooting each boy in front of her their own glare.

“We, um, well Haru and Nagisa, may have suggested that, uh,” her gaze turned to Rei as he sputtered his way through the sentence and then he blurted the last of it in one breath, “Seijuro was interested in you romantically and that he was trying to win Rin over to get his permission to date you.”

“I wish I could say I can’t believe you guys but sadly I can.”  A sigh escaped her lips as he dropped onto the floor between Haru and Makoto leaning back to eye Nagisa.  “Why would you guys do this?  Don’t you want Rin to have a chance to be happy?”

“Of course we do.”  Rei piped up from his spot next to Haru, leaning his elbows on his knees to watch Gou.  “It’s just that, well, why them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why them and not one of us?  Why didn’t you think any of us would be good for Rin?”  If she hadn’t heard it with her own ears Gou would never have believed Haru’s voice could even hold a pouting tone.  But there it was.  And he had the pouting eyes to go with it.  Jeez these four were spending way too much time together.

“Yeah he was our Rinrin first, after all.  Why should we let your new friends corrupt his innocent heart?  Plus he’s really good looking.  I would have totally been all over that if you let me.”  The look she gave Nagisa would have withered a lesser man into a shell of his former self.  Luckily for him Nagisa had been on the receiving end of many of her glares before.  “Just saying.”  He muttered almost sheepishly as Makoto looked at him in shock and the other two ignored him.

“My brother will never get with any of you.  For one thing three fourths of you are hot for each other and the last one is my boyfriend, in case you all forgot.  For another thing I don’t care if you guys are friends.  You’re not children anymore.  So stop it.”

“I’m good at sharing.”  Nagisa pouted as he dropped his feet into Makoto’s lap and rubbed his head on Gou’s knee.  He could whine and squirm all he wanted but it was not going to get any of them off the hook.

“Not.  Happening.”  She stood up and pulled her phone from her pocket before heading to the door.  “He deserves to be treated with respect and love.  Not passed around like a toy.  Now you guys will leave Rin and Ai and Sei alone and give them a chance for this or so help me none of you will be having any kind of intimate relations with anyone for months.”  The door slammed on her way out and Haru’s sour face came back as the picture frames on the wall rattled.

 

Staring into eyes so similar to his own was always a little disorienting.  It was completely mind-boggling at the moment though as he tried to process what he was being told.  “Wait.  So you’re saying you don’t like Seijuro like that?”

“No.  I told you already I have a boyfriend.  Sei and Ai are just my friends.  Although they have their own thing going on but that’s not the point.  The point is the rest of the guys were being dumbasses and trying to screw up everything.”  Woah woah woah.  Back up.  His sister?  His baby sister had a boyfriend?

“You have what?”  Gou’s face flushed slightly as she realized her slip and she waved off his question.

“Don’t change the subject.  The important thing here is that these two like you.  And you should be with them if you’re not opposed to it.”

“Why?”

“Well Ai’s smart and funny and he likes watching the same ridiculous movies you do.  And Sei’s strong and has a weird sense of humor like you and he’s tall and they’re both nice to look at you know.  Plus they both like you.”

“So you’re saying that they’ve been trying to date me and the rest of the guys have been interfering because…?”

“Because you’re their little romantic Rinrin and they don’t want to let go of the past you.”  Rin spun off the couch and landed ungracefully on the floor at Sei’s voice.  Taking Ai’s hand when he held it out he let the grey haired man pull him to his feet.

“I’m gonna go kick the crap out of them and then I’ll be back to deal with you guys.”  Rin stomped out of the apartment, muttering things like “why don’t you just come out and say this crap” and “damn friends think I’m a child I’ll show those idiots.”

“Well,” Gou mused as she turned her gaze to Sei and Ai, “he didn’t outright refuse you.  So that’s a plus.  But let me remind you.  Even if I approve of and suggested this relationship, if you hurt my brother you deal with me.”  Her innocent smile held a promise that sent a shiver down both men’s spines.

Between Gou and the rest of the guys getting into a relationship with Rin could be treacherous.  But it would be worth it in the end.  Rin was worth it.

 


End file.
